First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Acquires Shares of 3,569 Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. bought a new position in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 3,569 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $246,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BRKR. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Bruker by 120.4% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 399 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Bruker by 139.1% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 361 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Bruker by 115.3% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 661 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Bruker in the second quarter worth about $52,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Bruker by 81.0% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 867 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Bruker Trading Up 3.4 %

NASDAQ BRKR opened at $61.34 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.45, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $64.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.68. Bruker Co. has a 12 month low of $54.55 and a 12 month high of $94.86.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.52. Bruker had a net margin of 11.29% and a return on equity of 24.92%. The firm had revenue of $800.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $799.44 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.50 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bruker Co. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on BRKR. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Bruker in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $78.00 target price on the stock. Barclays assumed coverage on Bruker in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $75.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup dropped their target price on Bruker from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Bruker from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Bruker from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.82.

About Bruker

Bruker Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and distributes scientific instruments, and analytical and diagnostic solutions in the United States, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Bruker Scientific Instruments (BSI) BioSpin, BSI CALID, BSI Nano, and Bruker Energy & Supercon Technologies.